Staying Healthy on a Vegan Diet

One of the main struggles of a vegan diet, and more specifically, exercising while eating vegan food only, is getting the protein your body needs to build and maintain muscle. First off, nuts are a great, vegan source of protein and healthy fat. Make sure you have at least one protein in every meal. For example: if you are planning on just eating a salad for lunch, toss on some nuts or seeds. Some other healthy, vegan foods high in protein include: beans, lentils, soy milk, almond milk, tofu, chickpeas, quinoa, nut butters, soy yogurt, broccoli, spinach, brown rice, etc. Your body will benefit from your adding these foods into your diet. Failing to maintain a healthy balance of the food groups will make your body enter starvation mode, making it eat away at your lean muscle for energy. If you are trying to lose weight, this might satisfy your immediate hope to drop the pounds, but in the long run it will hurt you more than help you.

Now to the exercise: As I wrote in my last post, choosing your workout is all preference. Everyone will like a different kind of work out, but no matter what you chose to do, one universal rule is that to gain/maintain a healthy body and soul, it is recommended to do at least 20-30 minutes of some kind of exercise or physical activity EVERYDAY! 

Thank you Laura for your comment!

Here's a great website I found that could help give you some ideas about exercise and your diet: http://www.veghealthguide.com/exercise/

Building Blocks...

I am currently in the process of building up ideas for this project I am starting. I know that I write best, and am more motivated to do my work when I am truly interested in what I am studying and can link it to my own life, one way or another. This is why I chose to create something having to do with exercise and appropriate sports nutrition. I am still not sure exactly what I'll be writing, but some ideas I have had include: workout schedule + nutrition, good workouts for specific areas of the body, general info on the importance of exercise and a healthy, balanced diet,...etc. As of now, I plan on making this an easily accessible source for those of you who are interested in either bettering your health (and maybe figure), or simply following the enthusiastic blog of an inspired, excited high school athlete.

I will be retrieving info from many sources, some of which include: Anatomy of Exercise by Oat Manocchia, Ultra-prevention by M.D.s Mark Hyman and Mark Liponis, and of course the internet.

Now, I have a request for all of you out there. I ask that you PLEASE comment on my posts with constructive criticism, input, advice, etc., but most of all, telling me what you are interested in knowing or what kind of post would benefit you most! If enough people contribute, it will greatly benefit this blog.

Until the next...
~Iolani